Edward Costley (1794 – 18 April 1883) was a New Zealand philanthropist. Costley was born in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

to John and Anne Costley. Costley was known among the "old identities" of

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

as a man of rather penurious and retiring habits, who had acquired property in the early days, which, with the growth of the city, had become of great value. Costley had arrived in Auckland around 1840, possibly coming on from Australia. He purchased property at a time when it was empty scrubland and as the town of Auckland grew he quietly expanded his landholdings. He never owned his own house preferring to board with friends, a married couple. On his deathbed he summoned his lawyer, and directed him to divide his wealth among the city charities, seven of these being named. The estate realised £93,000, which was divided between the

Auckland Hospital Auckland City Hospital is a public hospital located in Grafton, Auckland, New Zealand. It is the largest hospital in New Zealand,Largest hospital in New Zealand...' - News-Medical.Net, Tuesday 29 June 2004 as well as one of the oldest medical fac ...

, Old Men's Home, Sailors' Home, Auckland Institute, Costley Training Institute,

Auckland Public Library Auckland Libraries is the public library system for the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It was created when the seven separate councils in the Auckland region merged in 2010. It is currently the largest public-library network in the Southern H ...

, and the Parnell Orphan Home, each of which received £12,500. Smaller bequests were made to a range of other charities in Auckland including various organisations run by different religions. It is possibly significant that money was spread across a number of the various religious denominations including homes run by the Anglican and Catholic Churches and inner city Missions and shelters administered by the Methodists and others. One institution was created by the Costley Trust, apparently on the specific instruction of Edward Costley. A Training School for Boys was built on Richmond Road in Grey Lynn to educate working-class boys in manual trades. This building is now known as

Carlile House Carlile House, formerly Costley Training Institute, was a boys' home and training centre, built in 1886. It was enabled by a bequest of £12,500 from Edward Costley. It was originally bequest to the Kohimarama Training School, however, the Kohim ...

and is in a state of disrepair. Since Costley's death an unsigned draft will has come to light which showed that he had long contemplated the application of his wealth to charitable purposes. He died in Auckland on 18 April 1883, and was buried at Symonds Street Cemetery where the Costley Trust erected a monument to his memory. This monument stands to the south of the Anglican Memorial on the eastern side of the cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Costley, Edward 1794 births 1883 deaths New Zealand philanthropists Irish emigrants (before 1923) to New Zealand Burials at Symonds Street Cemetery 19th-century philanthropists